DEVELOPMENTAL
EVALUATION
Developmental evaluation involves long-term relationships between evaluators and project or programme
staff. Evaluation is ongoing, which means that feedback can be provided on a continuous basis.
Development evaluation is particularly appropriate for projects or programmes working in complex or
uncertain environments. It is primarily designed to support learning and management decision-making.
Developmental Evaluation is a concept first promoted by Traditional evaluations often assess projects and
Michael Patton. It involves long-term relationships between programmes against pre-defined objectives and
evaluators and project or programme staff. In indicators. In developmental evaluation the objectives
developmental evaluation, the job of the evaluator is to and indicators may be constantly changing in the light
facilitate discussions around evaluative questions, and of emerging evidence. Developmental evaluations
encourage project / programme managers and staff to often pay more attention to evaluative questions,
continuously collect, analyse and use information in order rather than focusing too much on objectives and
to support ongoing decision-making. indicators.
Because evaluation is ongoing, rather than carried out at
specific points, feedback can be provided on a continuous When to use developmental
basis. This in turn means that adjustments to projects and
programmes can be made on an ongoing basis.
evaluation
Development evaluation is therefore an approach to Developmental evaluation is particularly suited to projects
evaluation that is particularly appropriate for work in or programmes that:
complex or uncertain environments, where evidence-based
decision-making is required throughout a project or • operate in uncertain situations, where the external
programme. environment is constantly changing;
• are concerned with innovation, replication or
Some of the main differences between developmental and mainstreaming, where a key purpose of the
traditional evaluation are as follows (see Patton 2006, project or programme is to assess what works and
Dozois et. al. 2010). what doesn’t, rather than following established
pathways to change; and
Traditional evaluation is sometimes carried out • require collaboration amongst many different
primarily to demonstrate accountability to donor or stakeholders from different organisations or
government agencies. Development evaluation is sectors.
always primarily focused on learning in order to
improve performance within the project or programme Basically, development evaluation is most appropriate
being evaluated. when working in complex environments where the route to
change is non-linear and cannot easily be predicted
Traditional evaluations are usually carried out over
beforehand. Although developmental evaluation is
relatively short time periods by external consultants. In
primarily designed to support learning and management
developmental evaluation the evaluator is embedded
decision-making, in many situations the same findings can
within a project or programme as a member of the
also be used to provide accountability to different
team, and works with the team on an ongoing basis.
stakeholders.
Rather than simply providing recommendations at the
end of an evaluation, development evaluators take a
more active role in shaping the course of a project or How it works
programme. This always involves providing ongoing
advice and recommendations, and may also involve How is development evaluation practiced? In the words of
taking part in management decision-making. Dozois et. al. (2010, p26) “any way that works”. There are
no fixed steps or templates for carrying out developmental
In a traditional evaluation, tools, methods and evaluation. The way in which it is applied is very dependent
approaches may be chosen to support the needs of on context. What works in one time and place will not
external agencies, and may be pre-defined at the start necessarily work in another. For example, at different times
of a project or programme. In development evaluation developmental evaluations might involve or utilise
they are chosen according to the needs of the project systematic monitoring, formal or informal reviews,
or programme at the time. traditional evaluations, formal research, action-oriented
© INTRAC 2017
research, sensemaking, or any other process or method Developmental evaluation requires different kinds of
designed to assess performance or generate lessons. personalities and competencies than other kinds of
evaluation. The ability to think strategically, identify
A key point with developmental evaluation is to start it as emerging patterns, build relationships with different
soon as possible. Developmental evaluation can play an stakeholders, communicate with different groups, and
important role in the early stages of a development persuade others may be more important than
intervention by helping to adjust the design of a project or knowledge and experience of traditional evaluation
programme, or by helping to shape initial plans. If methods. High levels of flexibility, curiosity and
introduced too late in the process it will not be able to intelligence are also required, because developmental
contribute to these areas. evaluation requires developing new approaches, rather
than following step-by-step processes developed by
others.
Challenges Developmental evaluation requires a lot of time to do
There are many challenges associated with developmental well, and is often carried out over months and years,
evaluation. Some of the major ones are listed below (see rather than short, intensive periods. Obviously, this has
Gamble 2008, ibid). implications for financial costs, as well as the time
required for other stakeholders to engage with the
Objectivity is often considered important in process. This means there is often an onus on
evaluations. In developmental evaluation the evaluator development evaluators to prove that the process is
is embedded within a team. Sometimes developmental worthwhile. In other words to ensure that the benefits
evaluators are external consultants and sometimes of developmental evaluation outweigh the costs.
they are hired by the project or programme being
evaluated. Either way, some may be concerned that It is worth noting that many of the same challenges are
developmental evaluations are less objective because faced by monitoring and evaluation (M&E) staff in many
the evaluator forms part of the management team, different organisations and complex programmes. Indeed,
rather than being completely independent. in many ways there is little difference between
developmental evaluation and ongoing efforts by M&E staff
Budgeting for developmental evaluation is often
to monitor and evaluate complex programmes of work.
difficult because the design of the evaluation is
This is especially true if developmental evaluators are hired
emergent. It is impossible to predict at the start how
by the project or programme concerned, rather than being
much money will be spent on a developmental
appointed as external consultants.
evaluation because it is not known which issues will
arise over the course of a project or programme. This In either case the challenges are great, and addressing
may have implications for contractual arrangements, them requires ability, intelligence, flexibility, honesty and
which need to be more flexible as a result. often a huge amount of patience as well. But the potential
Developmental evaluation may result in very large rewards are also great. Done well, developmental
amounts of data being generated. A high level of data evaluation – as with ongoing M&E in complex programmes
(or knowledge) management is therefore required to – can help significantly shape management decision-making
ensure a project or programme does not become in order to improve the quality and performance of
overwhelmed with data. development interventions operating in complex or difficult
environments.
Further reading and resources
Two related papers in the M&E Universe cover utilisation-focused evaluation and M&E systems in complex programmes and
organisations.
Utilisation-focused evaluation Overview of complex M&E systems
The paper by Dozois et. al. (2010), referenced below, provides a very useful overview of the practical application of
developmental evaluation, based on a 3-year multi-site case study of several developmental evaluations. Michael Patton has
written a book on development evaluation, which is shown below.
Patton, M (2010). Developmental evaluation: Applying complexity concepts to enhance innovation and use. New York, NY:
Guilford Press.
References
Dozois, E; Langlois, M and Blanchet-Cohen, N (2010). A Practitioner’s Guide to Developmental Evaluation. The J.W.
McConnell Family Foundation and the International Institute for Child Rights and Development. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
© INTRAC 2017
Gamble, J (2008). A Developmental Evaluation Primer. The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Patton, M.Q. (2006). “Evaluation for the Way We Work”, in the Non-profit Quarterly. Vol. 13 (1): 28-33.
Author(s): INTRAC is a not-for-profit organisation that builds the skills and knowledge of civil society
Nigel Simister organisations to be more effective in addressing poverty and inequality. Since 1992 INTRAC has
provided specialist support in monitoring and evaluation, working with people to develop their own
M&E approaches and tools, based on their needs. We encourage appropriate and practical M&E,
based on understanding what works in different contexts.
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